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When people think of Thailand, they usually think about the lush beaches of Koh Samui, or maybe even The Beach at Koh Phi Phi, or Bangkok, the bustling Thai capital. And while all these places are worthy of being seen, there are two cities in the north that are often neglected. Enter: Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. These two cities are much smaller, more low key than Bangkok but offer a great contrast to the capital city. Getting to these cities is easy and I highly recommend traveling to them to get a different flavor of Thailand.

Chiang Mai

Getting the train to Chiang Mai from Bangkok is as easy as taking night train #9 at 6:10pm from The railway station at Hua Lamphong (Hua Lamphong on the metro line), and arriving 13 hours later. Here is an awesome site for sorting out tickets (PROTIP: Book the night train a few days in advance as these are known to sell out due to their popularity). If you’ve never been on a night train/sleeper car before, it is definitely an experience. Some people hate it, some love it, the only way to know is to try it. You can find a Google map of the places I will discuss at the end of this post.

Chiang Mai is much smaller than Bangkok but there’s still some cool things to do there. One is to do a cooking class. If you decide to go with “the best thai cookery school”, you won’t be disappointed as you’ll take instructions from Perm, the man behind the school. He goes to the markets with you and shows you all the produce as you pick up when you need for later the evening to cook. Here you can try your hand at preparing a wide variety of dishes like curry, pad thai, spring rolls, etc. 

If you are looking for something with a bit more action and something more culturally relevant, go see a muay thai boxing match at Thaphae Boxing Stadium. Ringside seats here are a few hundred baht and it’s amazing to see this different sport up close. All age groups and both genders compete in a series of bouts. It’s incredible to see the discipline of the fights adn the respect they have for one another.

Chiang Rai

You can get to Chiang Rai after a 3.5 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai using Greenbus Thailand. There are multiple departures a day for around $5. the easiest way to get around the city itself is by tuk-tuk or by renting a bicycle as the city is flat and traffic is relatively non-existant.

This area in Thailand is known more for its mountains and jungles and is generally a great place to relax and enjoy the best views of Thailand. Nice places to go for a hike or sunset include the Buddha Cave Temple (Wat Tham Phra) and Chiang Rai River Beach.

For some temples in the area, you can go wrong with Wat Phrathat Doi Kong Khao which is especially nice at night and sunset. But perhaps the most famous of temples is The White Temple, or Wat Rong Khun. This place is pristinely white and extremely ornate. Take a good look at the figures and sculptures here and you will find that it’s a bit more modern than it appears. Nonetheless, it’s quite a sight to behold.

A bit further outside the city is the Choui Fong Tea Plantation, which boasts sweeping views of the tea tree rows, an onsite restaurant and a bakery.

For drinks, head on over to R&B Bar. From my experiences, it was a nice chill place that let you play whatever music you wanted to via youtube. Not sure if they still do it.

From here, people tend to enter Myanmar or may choose to continue into Laos by taking a river boat after crossing the border.

PROTIP: For the best Thai food, don’t go to restaurants. Go to the carts on the side of the road where the locals are making food. You will find that these meals that sell for less than $1 are much better than the $20 meals from back at home. 

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